Posting my daily meals for your feedback

[Patvoogt]

I hope this is the proper forum to post my meals in the hope that you guys will tell me if I'm doing this right and what I can do better. My stats: female, 42 years old, 5'4" and 145 lbs. My digital scale tells me I'm around 30% bf. Upper body fairly lean and muscular, total pear shape (for me it's not wheat belly, it's wheat butt!!!). Been a carb addict for years, even consulted a naturopath and explained all my "symptoms" and she never brought up the wheat issue. So this is all brand new to me. Started cutting out the obvious wheat from my diet but could use a little bit more direction. Here's how my typical daily food consumption goes:


Breakfast:
2 eggs with grated cheddar and about a cup of honeydew melon


Snack:
Celery with cream cheese


Lunch:
One can of flaked tuna packed in water and one mashed avocado with half a diced tomato (makes a yummy goo!) Some days I have a big salad with lettuce, diced tomato, calorie-wise ranch dressing (yeah I know) and fake bacon bits. Used to put a handful of croutons but I cut that out. The salad is still probably not the best choice...


Snack:
One "Quest" protein bar (which is supposed to be gluten free and low carb)


Supper:
This is the wild card as DH cooks supper and although he wants to be supportive, ya know...
Some days we'll have chicken and a green cooked veggie on the side (broccoli or asparagus) and mashed potatoes (half a cup max for me). Some other days it's ham and canned sweet peas with noodles in creamy sauce as a side dish (which I skip but it's hard). Sometimes it's sheppards pie (which I think is ok except for the gravy...) or beef burritos (I can have it over lettuce instead of a wrap).


Tomorrow we have a little celebration at work and instead of cupcakes or whatever other treats they'll have, I'm planning on having dark chocolate and almonds. I know the chocolate should be limited to just a square or 2 but I think I can have unlimited almonds. I'm looking forward to it!!


Another snack I'm thinking of having is a protein berry shake (milk, protein powder, frozen berries in blender). I think it's ok if I only do half a cup of milk?


Oh and I forgot to ask one more thing! What about Crystal Light in my water to help it go down a little easier?

[Rita]

You are going to get varying perspectives on this.  Some people on the forum go VERY Low carb,  others are low carb, while others just go with a wheat-free no-grain approach.   So keep in mind there are different perspectives.


And, diet depends on what your goals are too, and what issues might be going on with your biochemistry.   What I've really learned from going to school is that there is no one diet that suits everyone.   Some people can eat dairy, others can't.  Some people can eat beans, other's can't.  Some people can do fruit, others can't.   Some people can do potatoes, while other people have trouble with nightshades.  Some people can do cruciferous veggies, but others may have FODMAP intolerances.


But one thing we do know, is that people should avoid wheat.  Soy is right up there too.   Beans and nuts need to be prepared properly to remove the anti-nutrients.  This usually involves soaking overnight.   


We also know that the right kind of fat is good for us.   Coconut oil is GREAT!  Grass-fed butter is a superfood.   Olive oil is wonderful, but don't cook with it.  Throw out the canola oils, vegetable oils and seed oils.   Use bacon fat, lard and tallow.    In general, be generous with your fat intake.   Fat is the cleanest fuel you can give your body.


I'd look at the ingredients of your Quest bar.  Not sure about what is in it.   You might also look at your protein powder.  Is it soy?


If you can handle dairy, go with full fat, full cream.


And your gut will love you if you add fermented foods to your diet.

[Rita]

And you can eat the fattier cuts of meat too, which will save you money at the grocery store.


And enjoy bacon - guilt free!   

[Lila]

I wouldn't have the honeydew, fake bacon bits, or the protein bar or powder. Or milk. Do you put mashed potatoes on shepherd's pie? Or a crust? I wouldn't have any of those either.

[deanna in AR]

Welcome! Berries have less sugar than most fruits so we're mostly doing blueberries or strawberries occasionally (instead of 1/2 apple or 1/2 orange or 1/2 banana daily, which is what we ate before). We usually use balsamic vinegar on our salads. I've never had a Quest bar. I generally don't snack at all because I'm seldom hungry. We seldom eat potatoes, maybe every couple of months or so someplace like Outback. We love their loaded baked potatoes and usually share one. However, I plan to start incorporating the small red potatoes occasionally since some others on the forum recommend them...we'll see. We never eat noodles. But I have a pack of Miracle Noodles in the fridge to try. Instead we eat spaghetti squash or "noodled" zucchini. We don't eat gravy or sauces...we would if it was made without wheat. We've never gotten into shakes or smoothies. We don't do Crystal Light so I don't know what's in it. It makes me thirsty. But fortunately I love plain water. We do a little chocolate and a lot of nuts. The no-nos we do are peanuts and too much wine and very occasionally Mexican food. Our goal is no wheat, low carb, high fat. We don't do everything perfectly, but we do well.

[HungryinTN]

The key is knowing what your personal goals are.  The melon, fake bacon, protein powder, and Quest bar are red flags, to me.  I'd trade the melon for berries if you must have fruit, but gut-wise fruit combines badly with protein so it might be best to skip it altogether or have it at a different time.  Fake bacon = all kinds of bad, probably.  Gluten, soy, chemicals, etc.  Go for the real deal. The protein powder and quest bar are processed foods and may not be beneficial.  I know that some among our number use them, and they can be handy in a pinch, but it might be worth evaluating their value in your diet, especially once you get used to this WOE and your appetite decreases.  An additional issue is the canned tuna, which could be high in BPA from the can if you're not getting an organic variety, and high levels of BPA could sabotage your health and weight loss. Also, at some point it might be worth eliminating dairy.  The nutrients in most supermarket dairy are negligible due to the destructive pasteurization process, and many people can't really tolerate dairy anyway.  I drink raw milk but otherwise only eat dairy occasionally as a treat, not as an everyday part of my diet. 
 

[Randal]

I agree with Hungry. I used to live on protein bars, drinks, and powders. Often the protein sources aren't great quality (despite what it says on the packaging), and there are simply too many questionable ingredients. (And the more you get into this WOE, the more you appreciate fewer ingredients.)

However, it took me 6 months of this WOE before I eliminated the protein bars and drinks entirely. While I saw great progress while I was still using them, I wish I had stopped sooner so I could have helped my intestinal flora better.

[VibeRadiant]

Here's how my typical daily food consumption goes:


Breakfast:
2 eggs with grated cheddar and about a cup of honeydew melon


Snack:
Celery with cream cheese


Lunch:
One can of flaked tuna packed in water and one mashed avocado with half a diced tomato (makes a yummy goo!) Some days I have a big salad with lettuce, diced tomato, calorie-wise ranch dressing (yeah I know) and fake bacon bits. Used to put a handful of croutons but I cut that out. The salad is still probably not the best choice...


Snack:
One "Quest" protein bar (which is supposed to be gluten free and low carb)


Supper:
This is the wild card as DH cooks supper and although he wants to be supportive, ya know...
Some days we'll have chicken and a green cooked veggie on the side (broccoli or asparagus) and mashed potatoes (half a cup max for me). Some other days it's ham and canned sweet peas with noodles in creamy sauce as a side dish (which I skip but it's hard). Sometimes it's sheppards pie (which I think is ok except for the gravy...) or beef burritos (I can have it over lettuce instead of a wrap).

My honest opinion is that your food sampling sounds like you are dieting.  This isn't about calories.  It's about eating to satiety. It's about eating enough protein (30 g three times a day at least) to keep you full and energized and help your body build muscle while it burns fat. It's about eating enough fat that you don't want to snack. It's about wanting to lose weight and not just lose fat (yes there is a difference). It's about eating food that isn't heavily processed (have you seen a cheerios tree? Or a quest bar bush?).  It's about giving your body time to do what it needs to fix all the damage you've done by dieting. The more diets you have been on, the longer it will take to fix what was broken. But it does start to get fixed - patience is the key.  Think of this as a marathon and not a sprint.
It's also about being honest with yourself and knowing you are worth the effort that it will take to say no to those (damn) timbits that someone so thoughtfully left in the kitchen.  It's about the small rewarding warm glow inside when you've made it another day without falling back. One day, then another and then 6 months and then 12 months.  It's about challenging your beliefs about what you think you need to eat as opposed to what you can eat.  There are days that are so hard that you think is it worth it? But then you find a way to eat until you are so stuffed with the good food that you couldn't eat anything "bad" even if someone waved it under your nose.   


Having said that, are you tracking your intake of fats, carbs and proteins?  That is important info to have. This last week I ate approx 2013 calories a day, approx 150 g of fat and approx 190 g of protein a day and (on average) approx 60 g of carbs a day (some days are higher and some are very low) for the last few weeks since I started tracking. Before that, I thought I was eating enough fat and protein and staying low carb, but now that I know,  I can see why I was all over the place and so was my progress.
 
If you need to drink crystal light to transition, then do it - better that than table sugar. But eventually, regular water will taste sweet and fresh. Give it time.
Why spend money on processed protein powders that are high in sugar and chemicals, blend egg whites in your smoothie instead. You can't taste it and it gives your smoothie a creamy texture. Just use enough egg whites to give you 30 g or more of protein (8 large egg whites).


I have a green smoothie in the morning with 1 cup homemade coconut milk, 8 egg whites, I cram the blender with raw spinach and add some greens plus total body nutrition (70% of it is fermented), it is very filling and energizing (but I had to work up to raw egg whites).


So any way, good luck and hang in there. And tell hubby that when he cooks he needs to make sure you get your veggies. No ifs, ands or buts.

[Jan in Key West]

Vibe,
Why are you only eating the egg whites and not the yolks....that's where the really good stuff is!

[VibeRadiant]

Vibe,
Why are you only eating the egg whites and not the yolks....that's where the really good stuff is!

Because I want the protein, the fat is in the full-fat coconut milk I make.

[Rita]

Because I want the protein, the fat is in the full-fat coconut milk I make.

I guess I'm stumped on this one too.  You do know that excess protein turns to fat right?

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[VibeRadiant]

Because I want the protein, the fat is in the full-fat coconut milk I make.

I guess I'm stumped on this one too.  You do know that excess protein turns to fat right?

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I don't beleive so. Just like eating fat makes one fat right? 
Besides, as I mentioned the fat is in the coconut milk.
I eat about 1 to 1.5 g of protein per pound of body weight per day which is what is recommended.
Most days my fat intake exceeds 150 g and my protein intake is roughly the same amount.

[Jan in Key West]

I was under the impression that the recommended protein ratio was 1 to 1.5 grams per kg of body weight, not pounds. (Although I have seen higher charts.) So predicated on my weight, I usually stick to 49 to 73ish daily.....which is very doable. A 6 oz. Steak is roughly 40 grams of protein, eggs around 6 each.....bacon, 2g per slice....and then avacados, nuts, cheese, veggies also have protein content. It doesn't take much to hit your mark.

[Rita]

I don't beleive so. Just like eating fat makes one fat right? 

Vibe… I don't want to sound like I'm hammering you at all.  You already do so many wonderful things for yourself and I applaud you for that.   I just think that bringing this up makes a good discussion on protein for general interest's sake. 
Excess protein gets converted to glucose.   Excess glucose gets stored as glycogen in muscle cells and about 400 calories worth in the liver.  Then anything after that is stored as triglycerides in the fat cells.

Mark Sisson from Mark's Daily Apple says

My general recommendation is one gram per pound of lean body mass on an average day. If you IF, it might weigh in at half that or less on your fasting days, whereas special occasions like Thanksgiving or your uncle’s annual steak fry might tip the intake scale at 1.5 grams per pound or so of lean mass. For the average active person, these amounts will be well utilized and fully sufficient. Any more than that, however, and you run the risk of excess protein being converted to glucose, which of course defeats the purpose of a low/lower carb diet. If you’re adequately hydrated (which doesn’t take much), eating an overall alkaline diet and ensuring adequate intake of bone supportive nutrients like magnesium, calcium and vitamins D and K, the common (but generally outdated) concerns about kidney load and osteoporosis aren’t significant issues.

It's also worth noting that Dr. Peter Attia who is really into low carb eating, he eats more egg yolks than he does egg whites.

[Randal]

Conventional wisdom in the weightlifting world is 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass, not total weight. And that's for adding mass. If you're not strength training, you're probably getting too much protein if you're following that guideline.

If you're getting too much protein, you risk gluconeogenesis - converting protein into glucose, which will then get stored as fat. (Boundless, please correct me if I've got this wrong.)

Also conventional wisdom in weightlifting circles is that the body can only utilize about 30 grams of protein at each meal, although this has come under dispute in the past few years. But if you're getting too much protein at one time, you risk putting on weight for the same reasons above.

[Randal]

Just realized that my reply basically repeated what Rita posted from Mark Sisson. One of the key phrases from Mark is "average active person." I assume from Mark's definition, this means someone who moves a lot at a slow speed and occasionally lifts heavy things (as advocated for the paleo lifestyle).

I'd bet that most people don't fit into this active category. If you don't, your protein needs are much lower. I've heard that inactive people should shoot for more like 3/4 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass for maintenance.

Btw I eat all day long, and it's hard for me to get in the 180 grams of protein I try to eat every day. I do it, but it's not easy.

[mosey]

If I am overweight by about 15lbs, how do I figure lean body mass?

[Rita]

Here's a little calculator:   http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/lean-body-mass

[Jan in Key West]

Here's another calculator using a few more criteria......http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html .......according to this, my lean body mass is 88.4 and they said I needed to gain 4.4 lbs! I listed myself as moderately active....but bottom line is that I can tweak my protein up abit from 75g to 88 and stay within reason.

[HungryinTN]

The keto calculator I used put my ideal protein intake between 68 and 112 grams, depending on my level of activity for the day.  Occasionally I food log just to check myself, and I usually eat around 80-90.  Rather than try to change my intake, I just try to make sure I'm active enough to justify it, with plenty of walking and lifting things and general time spent not sitting on my tail.